


See Me in the Future

by followbutterfly



Category: Tenet (2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Howl's Moving Castle Fusion, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Gap Filler, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:54:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26882509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/followbutterfly/pseuds/followbutterfly
Summary: "See me in the future-"Neil’s last words echoed in the darkness and were followed by the unbearable silence. He tried to get hold of his essence but Neil was no longer there.They met again in the future, not so long after the last time he felt Neil's hand slip out from him.
Relationships: Neil/The Protagonist (Tenet)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	See Me in the Future

**Author's Note:**

> I want to imagine their moment in post-movie scene parallel with the flying scene in Howl's Moving Castle.  
> Here is [the scene.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCL2ANQpRWU)  
> Some of the dialogues came from that movie, and surprisingly fit right into the context.

“See me in the future-”

  
  
Neil’s last words echoed in the darkness and were followed by the unbearable silence. He tried to get hold of his essence but Neil was no longer there.

  
The world had been saved, more or less. Sator, together with the algorithm, had ceased. The generation had been left with rust and dust.

He was walking alone back to the operation, trudging his feet and his heavy heart. He could feel Neil’s warmth just slipped past him to somewhere faraway.

* * *

Neil looked so much younger when he met him again in the future. His hair was soft, blown by the breezing air-conditioner. His eyes were gleaming with liveliness and having curiosity burning in it. He wore the well-cut suit, looking sharp, so posh, and awkward in the same manner.  
  


Yet, he had never seen the younger man look so lost until now.  
  


“Excuse me, where’s the meeting?” Neil looked embarrassed and fumbled to pick a piece of paper on his pocket that was used as "the map".  
  
He hid his grin. He had plannes a gamble against Ives for tricking the new members into some lost and found directions (or more like lost and lost forever in Ives' sense). They had some fun messing up with the false guidelines instructed to the new ones just to see them looking dumbfounded. A fun game for some bored old men indeed.

“Hey, it’s alright. You don’t have to show the map to me. I know the way.” He tried not to smile too broadly.

Neil seemed so relieved. He folded the paper back into his pocket. “Thanks, um. I’ve found out that they put something in this suit the seconds ago. If I hadn't put it on, I’d had never found the place.”  
  


"The suit looks good on you," he said.

Neil looked sheepish but managed to compose himself just in time. He started following him to the hallway.

At that time, they happened passed through the groups of training troops. One of them were the inverted with the oxygen masks and walking backwards. Neil was staring at them with the wide eyes. He was too smart not to ask anything right away, instead trying to keep up the strides. Neil was a tall man, but with what seemed to be the chaotic up and running operation in forces, he was being pushed aside.

Instantly, he rushed back to the younger man and grabbed his arm just in time before he was lost in the crowd. Neil gasped at his touch, but smiled when he saw it was him who was pulling him to the right direction.

He didn’t, even in the split of second, breathe at the moment they passed the big troops since he was caught up by the fact that he could reach out to touch Neil. His arm was in his firm grip, breathing and existing.

He slid his hand to hold Neil’s instead when they walked towards another impending masked troop so he could guide him more easily. Neil didn’t seem to mind or hadn’t acknowledged the unforeseen intimacy.  
  


He turned to look at the younger man and said, “now, stretch your legs and keep walking.”

  
Suddenly, the worldview seemed to narrow down into their existence. Neil was a little appalled since he held his breath and tried not to get lost in the crowd. His hand came to hold his in return.  
  


When they reached the corner, they were encountered the pistol sounds. _Damn, Ives._ He cursed at the man whose idea was to lead the new recruit straight through the battlefield, even with the simulated one. He subsided his exasperation and pulled Neil close to him.  
  
“We have to pass the training field. It was the only short cut and you were running out of time.”  
  


Neil was staring at him, and nodded. “I don’t mind. Lead the way.”  
  


_E_ _asier to say_ , he thought but begrudgingly took the lead. He was still holding Neil’s hand.  
  


The room they were crossing was barred with mirrors and uproariously filled with gunfire. He was the one who designed the room using the same blue print as the timestile room. When he had founded Tenet, he realized that not everyone could catch the inverted bullet with their bare hands. They had spent a lot of time in this room training the new agents how to catch the bullets and fire them simultaneously.  
  


He felt Neil tense up in his clutch at the time he saw all those bullets went straight to muzzles. He tucked his hand and held back to observe the man.  
  


“It’s not that hard, actually,” he reassured him, but Neil snorted in disbelief.

Then he pulled out something from his pocket. A trinket with the red string.  
  


Neil was watching him as if he was going to perform the best magic trick and he was the eight-year-old audience sitting in the front row, ready to clap his hands in applause.

He raised the trinket to eye level, “here, catch it.”

Neil reached out his free hand to the object, somewhat reluctant and curious.  
  


It lasted only one breath away before the trinket was flying into his palm. Neil caught it in his hand before it dropped.

Neil gasped. His face was flustered with excitement. He looked directly at him with a wide grin and then broke out in laughter. It was such a beautiful sight to behold.

  
He smirked, “see? You’re natural.”

  
He was certain that the man responded with pink blush. “Thanks,” the young man mumbled to his compliment. He was not at all putting together as his demeanor prepared him to be.

And he began to like this version of Neil.  
  
  


They were treading through the room and found the staircase in the fire exit leading to the main conference room up to the top floor. He let go of Neil’s hand as they reached the first step of the stairs.  
  


“I’ll make sure to draw the troops off and clear the room,” he signaled to the simulation room. “Wait a bit before you head back.”  
  


“Okay,” Neil nodded, breathless.  
  


He punched his shoulder lightly, “that’s my boy.”  
  


When he was about to leave, Neil hurriedly touched his elbow. “Wait, um, what about the thing you gave me?”

He wished that his smile could carry some tenderness or had Neil felt like it was before delivering it to him, “it’s yours now.”  
  


  
  
  



End file.
